My son is 4 days into his 14 day trip to Japan and has gone and lost his JR Pass. We are currently hoping Japan is as honest as its reputation and the cleaners find it on the train. He put it on the seat and waited the whole journey for someone to check it, and they never did, and the silly billy forgot about it in his excitement. Now is stuck in Kyoto (sorta) when it was supposed to be a day trip. I figured it cheaper to grab a last minute hotel deal and have him stay the night while we sort it out. I am on hold with ALLIANZ, but cannot find any specific mention of rail pass or partially used tickets. Any advice on wording and how to approach a claim on his ticket should it not be found, or how to get out of this as cheap as possible will be rewarded with generous virtual hugs and kisses!
1 Lost Japan Rail Pass
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Japan is indeed awesome but helicopter parenting isn't. Kids (young adults) should learn how to navigate life without parents constant helicopter-ing. Balancing the power of freedom with toughness of responsibility.
Anyway hope your boy is enjoying the trip.
Its his first trip overseas, he is solo, and he appreciates my support, especially yesterday, as he he was freaked out. I knew exactly where he was because his destination was map markered, Line let us chat free, and while he was stuck running around from terminal to terminal, i made sure he had a bed for the night. I wont apologise for being there and the helicopter thing was a joke, hes alone in Japan >.<
Not sure why someone downvoted you, it is very true.
The amount of kids at uni who can't even fill in a form for special consideration and attach a sick certificate from their GP without parents being involved, who can't sit through a mock interview and answer a question like 'tell me a time you faced a challenge and overcame it'. How you sorted yourself out lost in japan could make an interesting answer to that question and instead it is all cookie cutter obviously memorised responses because noone gets put in difficult situations anymore and can talk off the cuff about it.
Its terrifying being lost overseas, especially where the language is so unfamiliar, but if there is a safe place to be lost japan is on that list. Its so true this was a missed learning opportunity
/end old person rant.
I do understand what you are saying, but this is not a gap year, it is precious leave from a hectic job, a reward for graduating his aprenticeship, and he did sort it out, he just knew he had support.
Great news for him that the ticket was found. I agree the honesty of the Japanese is amazing. In most other countries, the public and train staff also probably wouldn't have cared if they saw a ticket left on the seat.
It's great that you were able to be there for him w whatsapp/line. He would have been frantic.
Being without a ticket in a foreign country and not speaking the language is very hard.
And the Japanese are also strict with the rules - no ticket, no travel.A good lesson learnt and also it will be a great experience for him working out how to get it back. Will be a bit of an experience and a good travel story to remember.
Peace.
He is becoming quite proficient at navigating the rail system. The buses, not so much. Google translate has an awesome live camera function that can translate a lot of Kanji for him on the fly.
To make a claim, you might need to make a police report. But insurance normally only covers theft so you have to read the pds.
Other than that, it is not the end of the world. You can always buy single train tickets to continue the trip. Take it as an expensive lesson.
My dad left his on the train when we went to Kyoto too! We never did get it back though and he missed a trip to Hiroshima :(
That would have happened for him too, he is going to the anniversary lantern festival. Poor sod had to travel all the way to Okayama Station to get it back though, missed Kyoto completely, other than the train station.
I don't know if that works.
If they hold the ticket for the value of the trip, that was kind enough.
But i don't think you can find a way to go and claim for what you couldn't use.
Japan is indeed awesome. His ticket was found, although he needs to go on a mission to find where they are keeping it. He is still spending the night to make good of a bad day, but the lesson here is: don't lose your JR Pass. It cannot be reissued and the travel insurance policy (or ours) is vague on whether its covered or not. Also booking.com, Line and Google calender make helicopter parenting a young adult overseas quite easy ;)